What Is Shincheonji? What It Believes and Teaches

The group’s official name is “Shincheonji, Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony.” Shincheonji means “new heaven and new earth,” drawn from Revelation 21:1 and 15:5. Revelation 21:1 reads: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist” (NET).

SCJ reads this phrase metaphorically. In its view, the “new heaven and new earth” is Shincheonji itself replacing traditional churches as God’s kingdom on earth. Watchman Fellowship describes the same reading: the traditional churches pass away and are replaced by SCJ.

Source: Steve Matthews, “Shincheonji,” Profile, Watchman Fellowship, 2023, watchman.org.

Lee Man-hee was born in 1931 in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province, Korea. He claims a divine appointment and a unique understanding of the Bible. The apostle John saw Revelation in prophecy, sealed in parables. SCJ teaches that Lee, the “New John,” saw and heard its physical fulfillment.

Lee writes himself into the New Testament. SCJ identifies him as:

Watchman Fellowship notes that Lee’s own history leaves out his time in Baek Man-bong’s Recreation Church, from about 1977 to March 1980.

Source: Steve Matthews, “Shincheonji,” Profile, Watchman Fellowship, 2023, watchman.org.

SCJ marks March 14, 1984 as its founding, the day it says the “new heaven and new earth” was created. It has branches in the United States, Europe, Australia and South Africa. Watchman Fellowship reports that SCJ came to the United States in 1994. It also reports that HWPL, founded in 2013, is SCJ’s “international peace organization” and that Zion Christian Mission Center is its education arm.

SCJ teaches that the millennium began on its founding day:

Source: Steve Matthews, “Shincheonji,” Profile, Watchman Fellowship, 2023, watchman.org.

SCJ teaches that the true interpretation of the Bible was lost soon after Jesus’ ascension and the death of the apostles. It says Revelation was “sealed” when it was given to John in AD 95. SCJ then teaches the following:

• the sealed truth stayed hidden until Lee was anointed by Jesus in spirit in 1977 (Rev 1:17)
• Lee was given the “open scroll” to eat in 1980 (Rev 10)
• Lee is therefore the only person with the true interpretation of the Bible

Two conclusions follow from this: salvation is found only in Shincheonji, and mainstream Christianity is corrupt and apostate. This view also shapes how SCJ recruits.

SCJ teaches that the Bible’s prophecies are hidden in parables (Hos 12:10) and become understandable only when they are fulfilled. To understand them, a person must find the “promised pastor.” SCJ also teaches that God works through a repeating pattern of betrayal, destruction and salvation.

Lee’s early writing describes physical eternal life:

SCJ has since revised related teaching. See the great multitude doctrine change. For more on this topic, see Shincheonji and immortality.

Watchman Fellowship reports that SCJ denies the Trinity, Christ’s deity and his pre-existence. It also denies his resurrected body, saying he was raised but became a spirit body at the ascension (Acts 1:9–11), and denies a future Second Coming.

Source: Steve Matthews, “Shincheonji,” Profile, Watchman Fellowship, 2023, watchman.org.

SCJ calls the church “Spiritual Israel” founded by Jesus and the apostles. It teaches that this church has fallen into total apostasy, which it sees as the darkened “sun, moon, and stars” of Revelation 6:12–14.

SCJ tends to treat any criticism as persecution. It teaches that no one has a legitimate reason to leave:

Even long-serving leaders can be expelled and shunned. Framing all opposition as satanic discourages the kind of testing Scripture commends. The Bereans were “examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11, NET).

Shincheonji reads prophecy through a three-part pattern it calls betrayal, destruction and salvation. It assigns John the Baptist the role of “betrayer” at the first coming, and teaches that the same roles appear again at the second coming in Revelation.

Jesus spoke of John very differently: “I tell you the truth, among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is!” (Matt 11:11, NET).

For more, see betrayal, destruction and salvation, the “new John” and Shincheonji’s “betrayal” explained.

Matthew 24:45 reads: “Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their food at the proper time?” (NET). Shincheonji applies this verse to Lee Man-hee as the promised pastor.

Closer Look Initiative describes this as the “wisdom of hiding”: “Shincheonji practices a doctrine called the ‘Wisdom of Hiding,’ which condones deception as a holy duty. Members are taught that lying to outsiders, including family and other Christians, is not only acceptable but necessary to fulfill ‘God’s work’.” The article gives these examples:

• lying to family is portrayed as “an act of love”
• the recruiting method called “moryak jeondo,” meaning “strategy evangelism”
• Jacob disguising himself and Rahab lying to protect the spies, presented as models of wisdom

Source: Chris, “Wisdom of Hiding,” Closer Look Initiative, December 23, 2024, closerlookinitiative.com. Bible Vaccine Center and Closer Look Initiative are run by the same team.

The article notes that Shincheonji defines a spiritual lie as adding to or subtracting from God’s word. Lee Man-hee defines those terms this way:

Paul describes the opposite approach: “But we have rejected shameful hidden deeds, not behaving with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God” (2 Cor 4:2, NET).

For more, see food at the proper time in the glossary.

SCJ offers Bible studies and seminary-style courses that it presents as “non-denominational.” These target both church members and pastors, and it often does not say who it is until late in the course.

SCJ calls this the “wisdom of hiding.” It works in two ways:

• Concealing information. Recruits are not told who runs the study.
• Redefining what a lie is. Lying to advance God’s kingdom is treated as acceptable, as long as one does not “add to or subtract from” Lee’s interpretation of Revelation.

In the classes, some of the “students” are members (called “leafs”) who befriend new students and report their doubts. Watchman Fellowship calls these members “maintainers.” Pastors in Austin, New York City, India, Madagascar and New Zealand have described SCJ targeting their churches.

Source: Steve Matthews, “Shincheonji,” Profile, Watchman Fellowship, 2023, watchman.org.

The course stages and the screening of recruits are covered in a separate guide (SCJ Bible study course, coming soon). For warning signs, see How to Tell If a Bible Study Is Shincheonji.